Role Reversal
by Daylight Starr
Summary: Seto Kaiba becomes sick from overworking himself and Mokuba takes very good care of him. Light fluff and brotherly caring ahead.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Role Reversal

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Yu-Gi- Oh and I make no money from this story.

Summary: Kaiba becomes sick from overworking himself and Mokuba takes very good care of him. Light fluff and brotherly caring ahead.

Mokuba put his head into his brother's study, "Seto, what are you doing? May I come in?" He didn't wait for an answer and perched on the side of Kaiba's desk, watching him type furiously.

Kaiba barely looked up, "I'm working on something rather important. I need to get it done before I go to school." He rubbed his eyes tiredly and yawned, "and it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to."

Mokuba peered over his brother's shoulder curiously, "what is it?"

Kaiba scowled at the boy's hovering, but wasn't really annoyed, "it's a report on what's been going on this week, you wouldn't understand it."

Mokuba sighed, "well, you're about to be late. I came to give you this." He held out a strong cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese.

Kaiba shook his head, "no thanks, I'm not hungry." He took the coffee; however, "did you put anything in this?" Mokuba shook his head, "good." Kaiba took a drink, not caring that it scorched his tongue and throat on the way down. He set the cup down and sighed, "I have to get going," he told him as he rose to his feet and suddenly gripped the back of his chair, feeling dizzy.

Mokuba looked up at him, worried, "Seto, what's wrong?"

Kaiba shook his head, "nothing, don't worry about it, Mokuba." He smothered a cough and picked up his briefcase and laptop, "I'll see you at dinner."

Mokuba sighed and left the study, grabbing his own knapsack. He knew what "see you at dinner" meant. It meant that Seto wouldn't be back until midnight and the only way Mokuba would be able to see his brother would be to go down to Kaiba Corp and hang out there.

Kaiba sat at his school desk, his laptop resting on the table in front of him, but his fingers were idle. He rubbed his nose lightly with his index finger and sneezed.

Yugi looked up from the book his was reading and frowned, "are you alright Kaiba?" His voice was friendly and concerned sounding.

Kaiba looked up from his computer, "I'm fine Yugi, mind your own business."

Joey stood up and glared at the young CEO, "hey, he was worried about ya. You could at least act like ya got manners."

Kaiba looked mildly amused, "and I suppose you're the one who's going to teach me manners, Mutt? Please, I'm all ears."

Joey growled and took Yugi's arm, "come on, Yuge, he don't need nobody worryin' about him. Yer just wastein' yer breath."

Yugi allowed himself to be led away, but protested, "he really looks sick, Joey."

Joey snorted, "glad ta hear ya finally agree with me, Yugi. I've been sayin' he looks sick for a long time."

Yugi scowled, "that wasn't what I meant and you know it Joey, he just doesn't look like he feels well at all. His cheeks are all flushed and he's not working. Besides, when was the last time you ever heard Kaiba sneeze?"

Kaiba glared at the two boys, "I'll thank you very much not to talk about me as though I'm not in the room." He snapped his laptop shut and rose to his feet, "if you'll both excuse me, I have more important places to be. And besides, this way if I sneeze again I'll just know that it was because there are two idiots in this school who have nothing better to do than gossip about people who actually have lives." The young business man stalked out of the room.

Joey shook his head, "that guy's really somethin' else, ain't he? He really thinks he's so much better than everyone."

Yugi smiled and nodded, "yeah, he really does. Don't let him upset you, Joey, that's what he wants. Anyway, I'm sure we can think of something nicer to talk about."

Joey grinned, "I hear that. He's boring anyway."

Seto Kaiba stormed to his locker and turned the combination furiously, "where do they get off, talking about me like that?" He slammed the door shut and left the building, not caring that it wasn't time to go home yet. He had much more important things to do than languish in a school room, letting others run his company. He pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial for his driver, "pick me up now," he told the unassuming man the second he picked up, "I need to go to work, this can't wait." He tapped his foot irritably and glanced at his watch.

A few minutes later the Kaiba Corp limo pulled up and the driver held open the door for him, "I'm sorry to make you wait sir, forgive me."

Kaiba nodded shortly, "just take me to the building, fool. I can't handle being around these morons right now." He sneezed into his hands a few times, realizing that he'd forgotten his handkerchief.

The driver looked into the rearview mirror, "are you alright, Mr. Kaiba?" He sounded mildly concerned for his employer's well-being, but not overly-so.

Kaiba nodded, "yes, I just have a couple of geeks talking about me back at school. I'm fine." He sneezed again and searched his pockets, desperate for something to wipe his nose on. The driver, seeing his problem, handed him a box of tissues. "Thank you." Kaiba kept his thanks short and clipped. He wasn't in the habit of thanking his servants anyway. They were there, after all, to do his bidding, nothing more.

The driver, who had a teenage boy of his own, looked in the mirror again and sighed to himself, shaking his head, there was no way he would have let his son go to school or work with the makings of such a heavy cold. "Mr. Kaiba, are you sure you should go to work today? You look as if you should be in bed."

Kaiba glared at him, "why don't you mind your own business? I do not pay you to sleep."

The driver looked at him, "I'm not sleeping, Sir."

Kaiba stopped tending to his runny nose and scowled into the mirror, "what are you talking about? Who said anything about… oh just drop the whole thing." He seemed to remember his slip up, "and I don't pay you for that either, but I really don't pay you to think. I pay you to drive, a mindless occupation that any idiot off of the street could do, so just shut up." The driver held his peace and sighed to himself, thinking how sad it was that someone so young could be so cruel. Kaiba coughed and rubbed his nose violently with a tissue, trying to ward off another sneeze. It didn't work. He sneezed into his tissue and wiped his nose discreetly. The car pulled up to Kaiba Corp and Kaiba got out.

He rode the elevator to his office and sat at his desk, coughing. He turned on his computer and started to type much more slowly than he normally did, then he started to nod off and finally let his head fall on the table in front of him.

"Hey, Big Brother… Seto? Are you alright?"

A small hand shook his shoulder, pulling him out of his sleep. "Mokuba? What's going on?" His voice sounded raspy and tired, "I'm sleeping, leave me alone, I don't feel very well."

Mokuba nodded, "I know, you've been asleep for four hours. One of our servants had to carry you to your couch. I was afraid that you'd hurt your neck and back if you slept the way you were sleeping, all hunched over like that."

Kaiba realized that he was, in fact, lying on the sofa that he kept in his office for when he worked all through the weekend. He nodded, "Mokuba, I think I'd like to go home now." It killed him to admit that he wasn't feeling well enough to work, but he just couldn't handle it right then.

Mokuba nodded and looked up at the same man who had carried him over to the couch, "will you call and let the limo driver know that we're ready to go now, please?" He turned his attention to his brother, "do you think you can walk, or do you need help?" He held out his hand toward his brother, "I'll help you, Seto."

Kaiba came very close to giving Mokuba the brush off, but took the pro-offered hand, "thank you. Let's go home." He braced himself against the small boy, careful not to put too much weight on the young shoulders.

As they walked, Kaiba fought the need to sit down, "Mokuba, I think I may need to rest for a bit," he said finally, sitting on a hard chair along side the hallway, "just for a little while." He was breathing rather heavily and he turned his face away to sneeze. It turned into a full blown fit that lasted a good two minutes.

Mokuba patted Kaiba's shoulder gently all the while, "are you done now?" The boy asked, pulling his own wrinkled handkerchief from his pocket and giving it to his brother, who had gone through the tissues he's snagged from the box in the car. Kaiba nodded his thanks and blew his nose, forgetting, for a moment, about propriety. Mokuba smiled, "you'll be alright, Seto. You just need to go home and go to sleep."

Kaiba sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I guess so. I am tired still."

Mokuba nodded, "I can tell. You just need to get in your own bed and rest. I'll see to it that no one bothers you."

Kaiba yawned and got to his feet, "alright, let's go." He made his way out to the limo, but seemed to fall short of his normal, long strides. The briefcase that he usually held in such a professional manner dangled limply at his side and Mokuba carried his laptop. Somehow Seto Kaiba managed to stay awake for the drive home and long enough to change into his blue pajamas, and then he collapsed on his bed and fell into an exhausted sleep.

Something cool and moist on his forehead woke him and he opened his eyes weakly, "Mokuba, what's going on?" His voice sounded different, more young and faltering than he could remember it being for a long time.

The boy smiled down at him, "Seto, you're awake. I'm so glad, you were worrying me." He looked worried, too. Somehow, within a period of a few hours, the roles of the brothers had been reversed. The elder Kaiba was the one in need of care and the younger one was the giving it, "would you like some water?" Mokuba held a glass to Kaiba's lips, "but you have to drink slowly, otherwise you might get sick."

Seto drank the cool liquid and closed his eyes, too worn out to keep them open any longer. He sighed, "how long was I asleep? I have a meeting tomorrow, Mokuba."

Mokuba shook his head, "no you don't. It was today and I cancelled it. You have a really high fever and the only thing you're allowed to do is stay in bed and get better."

"Who says so?" Came the irritable response.

Mokuba scowled, looking disturbingly like his older brother, "I say so. You're sick and have to rest, I called the doctor too."

Kaiba opened an eye a sliver and saw his brother in his red pajamas and his already messy black hair sticking up at all angles. He'd apparently not been up for very long, "when did you have time to decide this? And why the heck did you go and do something like call a doctor? You know I don't like them." He didn't have the energy, or else he would have sounded angrier.

Mokuba's eyes grew more intense, "I know you don't Seto, but I don't care. He's coming over anyway."

Kaiba shook his head, unwilling to press the matter any more, "fine, have it your way. I'm really too sick to care right now." He felt his nightstand for the tissue box he always kept there because of his frequent allergies and found it empty. He didn't remember emptying it, however, "Mokuba?"

Mokuba nodded, "I had to take care of you when I got up this morning. I'll go get you another box." He left the room and came back with a fresh box, "here you go."

Kaiba blinked and took the box, trying at the same time to banish the thought of his little brother wiping his nose for him as he slept, "you didn't have to worry about me you know, Mokuba."

Mokuba sat down comfortably at the foot of the bed, "I do worry about you, Seto. How many brothers do you think I have stashed around this place?"

Kaiba sighed and sat up slowly, "where's my laptop? I have work I could be doing."

Mokuba smiled proudly, "I hid it from you. You can't work unless the doctor says it's alright, and I don't think he will."

The older Kaiba brother looked furious, "you aren't allowed to go around hiding my stuff. I need it for school work too. I'm missing school and need to get caught up."

Mokuba shook his head, "no, you're not going to do that, either. Face it, Seto, you're just going to stay in bed and rest until you get all well." He handed the young man a tissue just in time for him to catch another sneezing fit, "see, you're not well at all."

Kaiba finished up and blew his nose softly, careful not to pop his already sore ears, "I'm well enough to not fall behind on my work. I can't let my grades drop."

Mokuba snorted, "you're at the top of your class, Seto. Your grades couldn't drop if you wanted them to. I just want you to get better, alright." The boy looked urgently at Kaiba, "I'm really worried that you're not going to get better the way you should. One of the servants said that someone who pushes himself as hard as you do could end up getting really, really sick and ruining his health forever." The child seemed to be near tears.

Seto sighed, "whoever told you that is fired. I'm not going to lose my health because of a cold." He pulled out a couple of tissues and coughed deeply into them. "Don't worry so much, Mokuba, you'll give yourself ulcers."

Dark blue eyes blinked at him, "what are ulcers, Seto?"

Kaiba smirked, "it's when you have too much stomach acid churning up in you and it burns through your stomach lining, causing a hole and a lot of pain. People get them from worrying too much." It might not have been the most accurate description of them, but for a ten year old it was good enough.

Kaiba yawned, "I think I'm going to try to go back to sleep, if you don't mind. I feel as if I've been running a marathon."

Mokuba nodded and sat down in a comfortable chair with a book, "I'll read in here. This way, if you need anything I'll be able to hear you. I've asked that we not be disturbed unless I ask for something or the doctor comes." A knock on the door interrupted him, "oh, I guess he's here now. You have to be awake for this, Seto." He answered the door and let the tall man in, "it's good to see you again Dr. Tsuzuki." Mokuba bowed and smiled up at him.

The doctor smiled back and went to Seto's bedside, "I hear we aren't feeling very well Mr. Kaiba. What seems to be the trouble?"

Kaiba glared up at him, "it's just a cold, you wasted your time coming here." He started to cough, then sneeze, burying his face in a tissue, "go away."

Dr. Tsuzuki, who had known what to expect from years of caring for the two boys, sat down unperturbed, "it might be just a cold, but do you really want it to get any worse? You could be bedridden for weeks." His voice was mild, as though he were stating the time of day, "now, we can stare at each other all morning, or we can get this over with. I get paid either way, so it's all the same to me, but I'm sure you would hate to pay me for a service you aren't getting."

Kaiba pushed himself up onto his pillows, seeing reason, "fine, but make it quick. I have a company to run. All I need is some rest and I'll be back to work in no time at all."

The older man nodded sagely and took the youth's vitals, "well, you've got a fairly high fever, Mr. Kaiba. You're breathing sounds very congested and I don't like the looks of your ears. Have they been bothering you at all?"

Kaiba nodded silently, refusing to look the man in the eyes, "yes they have. I can't hear out of the left one at all. And the right one hurts."

Mokuba looked up from his book, surprised, Seto hadn't said anything about his ears hurting him, only that he wasn't feeling very well. Dr. Tsuzuki nodded, "I see. Is there anything else you'd care to share with me? This is not just a cold Mr. Kaiba, it sounds like the flu. You need to watch yourself."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, "I don't really have the time for this. I don't care what it is, just make it go away."

The doctor sighed, "you don't seem to understand what I'm saying. You have to stay in bed and get well Mr. Kaiba; otherwise you may not recover the way you should. You push yourself too hard for someone so young. Boys your age should be out playing sports or hanging out with friends, not running a company; I have half a mind to order you to go play."

Kaiba looked at Dr. Tsuzuki as if he'd gone nuts, "are you out of your mind? I don't play." He coughed violently into a tissue, "are you done?"

The doctor shook his head, "yes, Mr. Kaiba, I am." He gathered up his supplies stood up, and left the room. He turned to see Mokuba following him and looked down at the boy, "make sure he gets a lot of rest and plenty of fluids. He really needs them if he wants to get well. Does he have someone dependable at that company of his?"

Mokuba sighed, "Seto doesn't really like other people running Kaiba Corp for him. He says he doesn't trust any of them."

The doctor sighed, "he'll have to learn. He's taken too much on his young shoulders, and it could catch up to him soon. I don't like his coloring. A boy his age should have more pep."

Mokuba frowned at the man, thinking that he had no right to talk about his brother that way, "Seto's color is fine. He's always been pale."

Dr. "Tsuzuki smiled, "I wasn't trying to say anything against your brother, I'm simply concerned for his well being. He's not to do any work until I give the go ahead, alright."

Mokuba nodded, "alright, I'm sorry I got mad at you, it's just that people say bad things about Seto all the time and I'm getting sort of sick of it. He's really not a bad person; he just gets too caught up in things."

The doctor smiled and rubbed the child's hair, "I understand how you want to protect your brother. He's a passionate person, and a very lucky one to have a brother like you. People with Seto Kaiba's high standards are often disappointed with life and other people in general. You seem to be the one keeping him grounded."

Mokuba shook his head, but smiled, "I don't think I'm that important."

The doctor patted Mokuba's shoulder and opened the door for himself, "make sure he does all the things I've told him to do. If there's no change by the end of the week or if he gets much worse call me again. And keep an eye on that fever of his; I don't want it to get any higher."

Mokuba nodded, "yes sir, thank you for coming." He wrote the doctor a pre-signed check and handed it to him. Then he shut the door and jogged up the stairs back to Kaiba's room.

Kaiba was settling back down on his pillows after what looked like a fairly hard coughing or sneezing fit. His cheeks were flushed and warm to Mokuba's hand, "what did the old fool have to say?"

Mokuba took his small palm from his brother's cheek and poured him a glass of ice water, "to make you drink. Do you need some help sitting back up, Seto?"

Kaiba shook his head, pushed himself up on his elbows and took the glass, draining it quickly.

Mokuba set the glass on the nightstand and pet his brother's hair, "you know Seto, you shouldn't drink so fast, you could make yourself sick."

Seto sighed and settled down on his pillow, making himself comfortable, "don't worry so much Mokuba, I'm not going to make myself sick." He fell asleep, snoring loudly and drooling on his pillow.

Mokuba picked up his book and curled up on the chair next to Kaiba's bed. He started to read, but fell asleep himself.

To Be Continued

AN: This is the first attempt at Yu-Gi-Oh that I have deemed worth submitting to FF.N, any feed back you can give me would be great. I'd really like to know if I have the characters in character and if I've missed anything very important. I don't appreciate flames, but I also don't mid constructive criticism. I'd also like to know if you enjoyed it. I have chapter two well on its way, but want to know if I should change it to make it fit the story line of the show first. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all so much for the nice reviews. I'm really going to try to keep up with the chapters and not let this story die.

Oh, and the pharmacies where I live really are this slow.

Mokuba opened his eyes and sat up, annoyed with himself for falling asleep for so long. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was three O'clock in the afternoon, and the doctor had left at ten. He stood up and felt his brother's forehead and was relieved to find that his temperature didn't seem to have gone up, but alarmed at the same time to find that it hadn't gone down, either.

Kaiba opened his eyes and looked at Mokuba, "what are you doing?" He frowned and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand in disgust, hoping Mokuba couldn't tell that he'd drooled in his sleep.

Mokuba took his hand away and reached for the thermometer, ignoring Kaiba's problem, "I have to take your temperature, Seto. Dr. Tsuzuki wants me to keep track of it."

Kaiba sighed, "I wish everyone would stop treating me as though I were an invalid."

Mokuba frowned, turned the thermometer on and put it in his brother's mouth, "what's an invalid?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes in exasperation, wondering why the boy chose such a time to ask him questions. When the instrument beeped and was removed Kaiba explained; "an invalid is someone who's very sick for a very long time and can't do a thing for himself. I'm hardly that bad off."

Mokuba nodded, writing down the figure on a pad of paper, "I see." He didn't sound very impressed. The phone rang and Mokuba jumped on it, beating his brother by a long shot, "Kaiba residence, Mokuba speaking. Oh, hi Dr. Tsuzuki, how can I help you?" Mokuba nodded, "alright, I'll tell Seto, bye."

Kaiba didn't wait for Mokuba to start talking, "what will you tell me?"

"That Dr. Tsuzuki called in a prescription for eardrops for you and we need to go pick it up. Or I do, anyway."

Kaiba shook his head, "no, I'm going with you. They might need to check ID. Are we going now?"

Mokuba sighed to himself, but didn't argue this time, "alright, you can come. But I don't want to hear one word about the office or anything like that. And you have to dress warm."

Kaiba nodded, unwilling to admit out loud that he wasn't feeling well enough to even want to go to Kaiba Corp and make sure everything was running smoothly. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and snagged a handful of tissues. When he was finished coughing, sneezing and blowing his nose he rose to his feet shakily, muttering something about buying stock in the company that made his tissues so that he could at least break even with all the money he was putting into them. Mokuba just laughed and patted his brother on the back, "alright Seto, wear these." He handed him some warm clothes, "you need to bundle up; it looks chilly outside. Maybe you should wear a hat to protect your ears." He looked at the said ears sympathetically, wondering how he couldn't tell earlier that they looked painfully red.

Kaiba finished getting dressed and pulled on his warmer blue coat, "I draw the line at a hat, I don't need one." He looked outside at the grey, overcast sky and snagged an umbrella, "it does look like rain, though."

Mokuba followed his brother out to the waiting limo, thinking how strange it felt to not have to jog to keep up with his much taller brother. Seto was walking much more slowly than Mokuba was used to, and the unhurried, almost dragging steps worried the boy more than most of his other symptoms. "Wait a second Seto," Mokuba stopped in his tracks, "you forgot to take you're allergy medicine today."

Kaiba turned back and looked down at his little brother wonderingly, "I told you before to stop worrying about me, Mokuba. You're going to make yourself sick. You should know by now that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

The boy stared up at him with a very unchild-like anger, "then why don't you, Seto? You can't tell me that letting yourself get this sick is taking care of yourself. You're the most selfish person I've ever met. You don't care if anything bad happens to anyone else as long as your precious company is safe. You even let yourself get this bad just to keep it running the way you want it to. You won't listen to anyone. Don't you care about me, Seto? I don't know anything about taking care of someone who turned himself into an invalid." Tears welled up in the deep blue eyes as Mokuba hung his head, "I'm sorry, Seto, but I'm scared now. You have to take care of yourself and get better."

For one of the few times in his life, Seto Kaiba was absolutely speechless. He opened his mouth to talk, but couldn't find the words. He looked down at his feet quietly, then back at his brother, "alright Mokuba, I'll go take my allergy medication now. I'm very sorry to have worried you."

Mokuba nodded and trailed after him, "Seto, I shouldn't have said all that. It was really nasty and uncalled for. You aren't mad, are you?"

Kaiba looked down at him, his allergy meds in his hand, "no, why would I be mad? You're right, I'm not taking very good care of myself and I'm not setting a very good example for you. I guess I'm the one who should be apologizing, not you." That being said, Kaiba shook out two pills and downed them, "alright Mokuba," his voice was crisp and stern again, the way Mokuba was used to, "we've kept the driver waiting long enough. Let's go."

Mokuba nodded and walked beside him, still surprised at himself for all he had said. He glanced up at his brother, worried as he heard the older boy's breathing coming in heavy gasps, "Seto, are you alright?"

Kaiba nodded; his face obviously more pale than it had been, "I will be after I sit down." Kaiba had never been out of shape, despite the fact that he'd never actually done any physical work, and the fact that he was so exhausted unnerved him. The brothers reached the limo's door and Kaiba slid in and stretched out on the car seat, coughing in a moist, congested way that made Mokuba cringe as he took the tissue box from the driver's hand and shove four into Kaiba's.

Seto continued to cough into them and finally finished. After wiping his mouth he wadded them up in his hand, looking around for a trash receptacle.

Mokuba plucked them out of his hand and tossed them in the small can near his seat, "alright Seto, we're almost there." He felt badly for Kaiba, who was rubbing his right ear and trying not to look as if he were in great pain.

Kaiba nodded and let his eyes drift closed, despite the fact that they had almost reached their destination.

Mokuba nudged Kaiba's foot, "Seto, we're here. Come on, the sooner we get your medicine, the sooner you can go back to sleep. Dr. Tsuzuki told me that you should get some OTC stuff as well. He said you'd know what that meant."

Kaiba nodded slowly as he pulled himself out of the car, "over the counter. It's just normal cold and flu medication that you can buy without a prescription." He walked up to the pharmacy counter, trying not to look as sick as he felt, but failing miserably, "Kaiba Seto. I'm here to pick up a prescription that was called in for me." He handed the woman his ID.

She took it and left the counter, only to return a few seconds later, shaking her head, "I'm sorry sir, but it's not ready yet. Would you care to take a seat and wait?" She motioned toward the wooden bench not too far from where the boys stood.

Kaiba was furious, "no, I would not care to take a seat and wait. Is it your custom to force already ill people to spend more time in this dumpy little store when they should be at home resting?"

Mokuba tugged at his brother's jacket sleeve, "Seto, let's go get that other stuff while we're here, alright. I'm sure that she'll page you when it's done, right Miss?" The woman glared at Kaiba, but nodded. As he and Mokuba were leaving the woman muttered something about spoiled rich brats who expect everything given to them right then and there. Mokuba's sharp ears caught her grumbling and he turned and glared at her, but said nothing. Fortunately for her, Seto couldn't hear much of anything, so her job was safe.

Mokuba came back to the counter and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box that rested there and then he ran back to his brother, who was in the middle of a violent sneezing fit. He snatched the tissues from Mokuba's hand and buried his face in them while Mokuba patted his arm, hoping that he would stop soon. When Kaiba finally did stop he straightened up and wiped his nose, "alright, I need to find something that's going to help make this stop. It's getting annoying."

Mokuba walked down an isle and came back with some nasal spray, "how about this, Seto?"

Kaiba took the bottle and nodded, "this will work, I guess. I'm not overly fond of this method though; it makes me sneeze even more."

Mokuba smiled to himself, thinking that Seto couldn't be feeling very sick if he were complaining about everything still, then he reached out to take the spray back, "do you want me to find something else?"

Kaiba shook his head and tossed it into the hand basket he was carrying, "don't bother, I'm not a fan of any type of medication. This is just as good as any other." He put a few more things in his basket that he thought might help him just as his name was paged over head. The pharmacist himself presented Kaiba with the eardrops as soon as the young man walked up to the window. He explained that the woman was new and didn't know that she was to alert him when Kaiba came for his medication so that he could get it ready quickly. "Spare me, please." Was the salty reply to all of the pharmacist's rambling, "I just want to get home and back into bed. I'm assuming that I can pay for this here." He waved a hand at the basket.

The woman opened her mouth to let him know that it was against regulations to make a normal purchase at the pick up window, but the pharmacist cut her off, "of course you can, Mr. Kaiba. In what manner will you be paying?"

"Cash," he pulled out his wallet and handed the woman a few bills, took his change and walked back out to his limo, "that was painful." He coughed deeply and opened a package of cough drops, popping one into his mouth before reading the instructions of his prescription. "How long will this take to work, I wonder." He twisted the top of the eyedropper, breaking the seal, and put the white liquid in his right ear. It was all he could do to keep from yelling in pain when the solution went into the ear canal, "what in the world did that old fool do to me!" He wasn't crying, but his eyes were watering as he used a tissue to try to get it out.

Mokuba bit his lip and patted his brother's arm gently, "we'll call him when we get home, Seto. Don't do the other ear until we know if it's supposed to hurt like that or not."

Kaiba nodded, biting his lip to contain another outburst and tilted his head to try to get every drop out of the ear. He sneezed again and rested his head in the palm of his hand, "I didn't know that any one thing could hurt that badly." He blew his nose, which had started to run during the ordeal with the medication and was aggravated by the sneezing.

The driver opened the door, having come to the house as Kaiba was having problems. Mokuba got out and offered his hand to Seto, who took it gratefully. Kaiba's hand trailed up to his forehead and he groaned.

Mokuba opened the door and got his brother settled on the couch, "alright, I'm going to call that doctor and make sure he didn't accidentally poison you or something." He ran off to call Dr. Tsuzuki as Kaiba blew his nose softly again and tried not to touch his sore ears.

Mokuba came back, gnawing on his lip in thought, "he said that it was normal to have some discomfort when you put it in, so there's nothing to worry about. You can keep taking it."

Kaiba looked at Mokuba incredulously, "are you kidding me? That was not discomfort. Discomfort is stubbing my toe in the dark; that was searing pain. There's a big difference."

Mokuba nodded sympathetically but held out the medication anyway, "I know, but he also said that your ears were really infected and you need to take it. He's known what he's talking about so far Seto, so I think we have to assume he knows what he's talking about now. Do you want me to hold your hand or something when you put it in?" He held out his other hand to Seto seriously.

Kaiba looked up at his brother to make absolutely sure that he wasn't making some sort of weird joke before shaking his head, "that won't be necessary Mokuba, thank you." He took the bottle, closed his eyes and put the liquid in, his eyes tearing up again, "that really hurts!"

It was very unlike Kaiba to complain about pain, and it scared Mokuba rather badly, "I'm glad you didn't hold my hand, Seto. You would have killed it." He looked at the pillow Kaiba was clutching tightly and shook his head, "I'm sorry it hurts you so much, but you have to do them both. He said that the left ear was worse than the right one because at least you can hear out of the right one."

Kaiba glared at his brother, "stop telling me what he said. He is a quack." Kaiba put the medication in his other ear none the less and bit his tongue to keep from crying out. He then sneezed and wiped his nose, which was getting very red and sore from all the attention he was giving it.

Mokuba sighed, "you really should stop calling him a quack, Seto. I think he knows what he's doing."

Kaiba closed his eyes, "if you say so, Mokuba. Could you hand me that cold medicine we bought?"

Mokuba looked confused as he went over all the stuff they'd brought home. Aside from the nasal spray they'd gotten night time liquid, day time liquid, cough drops and decongestant, "I hope you aren't thinking that you're going to take all this at one time. You're going to OD if you do. What one do you want to take now?"

Kaiba sighed, "how about the day time stuff? If I take anything else I'll be awake all night."

Mokuba nodded and handed him the small plastic cup and watched his brother down it in distaste, "at least it doesn't hurt; right Seto? What do you want to do now?" He patted Seto's head and smiled at him.

"Do you mean 'what do I want to do' as in what would I like to do, or 'what do I want to do' as in what you are going to let me do?" Came the dry reply.

Mokuba sighed, "we'll watch TV, alright. You aren't allowed to work, which I know is what you're thinking." Mokuba flipped the TV on and turned the channel to an educational program, knowing that his brother was less likely to protest if it was something he would like to watch. Kaiba nodded, not really looking at the TV. He yawned sleepily, despite the fact that he said that he would rather stay wake. Mokuba smiled and patted the broad shoulder again, "go to sleep Seto. You need it." He didn't need to have said anything however, as the blue eyes were already closed and the young man's breathing was congested, but regular.


	3. Chapter 3

Again, thank you for all the reviews; they really keep me wanting to write more and, Caorann fridh Bronach, thank you for showing me what to work on to make this story better.

O

The sun lit up Kaiba's bare room, exposing the fact that it had no decorations, plenty of books and a large computer table at one of the walls. "Seto, are you awake?" Mokuba had been washing his brother's overly warm forehead with a cool, damp washcloth when Kaiba groaned and stirred in his sleep.

"Yes Mokuba, I'm awake now." The young man reluctantly opened his eyes but closed them quickly against the glare of the bright light streaming in through the pulled curtains. "What's going on?" He felt around on his nightstand for the tissue box, upsetting a mostly empty glass of lukewarm water and two bottles of cold/flu medicine before he found them.

Mokuba grabbed a handful from the box for himself and started to mop up the water while his brother sneezed and blew his nose. "I'm sorry, Seto. I should have warned you that the water was there." He tossed the shredding, wet tissues into the full trash can. "There, all done. Now do you want to take something before I check your temperature?"

Kaiba started to shake his head, but had to stop himself because it hurt so badly to do so. "I suppose I should. What time is it, Mokuba?"

A glance at the alarm clock caused Mokuba to bite his lip, knowing that his brother would not like the answer to his question. "It's two o'clock in the afternoon." He informed Seto.

Kaiba's eyes jerked open and he gaped at his brother in shock, "do you mean to tell me that I've lost almost an entire day?" He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight.

Mokuba nodded. "You would sort of wake up to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, but besides that you've been asleep since we got home yesterday afternoon."

The walls seemed to waver as Kaiba tried to sit up. He put a hand to his head, rested against his pillows again and groaned. "Mokuba, what's been going on at Kaiba Corp?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I told them that if they called here and it wasn't an emergency they would all be looking for new jobs." He looked proud of himself for coming up with a threat worthy of his brother. "They haven't called yet so I guess everything is going good over there."

"It's 'well' Mokuba." Kaiba wasn't sick enough to allow poor grammar to slide. "You guess everything is going 'well', not 'good.' Speaking of which, have you been keeping up with your studies? My illness is no excuse for you to fall behind." He stared intently and the boy, awaiting his answer.

Mokuba sighed and nodded. "Yes Seto, I did a lot of my homework while you were sleeping. I called my teachers and told them that I was helping you with something important and I wasn't sure when I would be back, so they sent over my homework. I didn't lie, it is important for you to get better."

Unwilling to argue with Mokuba about staying home, Kaiba nodded. As long as the child did his work, he would allow it, as sitting in a classroom wasn't high on his list of priorities. "I should send someone to collect my own homework. I can't fall behind either."

Mokuba scowled at him darkly. "I already called your school and told them how sick you were. They said you were ahead in all of your classes anyway, and not to worry about it. I guess it can give your classmates a chance to catch up with you."

Kaiba interrupted Mokuba with a series of chest wracking coughs. Mokuba blinked and sat down on the side of his brother's bed. "That really sounds bad, Seto. Do you want me to call Dr. Tsuzuki again?"

Tears formed in the blue eyes from the force of the coughing, but Kaiba shook his head. "Don't…" He wiped his lips and took a shuddering breath. "Don't bother. I'll be fine." He smothered a sneeze in a tissue.

Mokuba sighed. "Alright Seto, but I have to take your temperature now. I couldn't take it earlier because the ear thermometer would have hurt you too badly." He snatched the instrument from the nightstand and poked it in Seto's mouth. When it beeped Mokuba glanced at his brother. "You're really warm, Seto. You should take your medicine now, since you won't let me call the doctor." He gave Kaiba his eardrops and some of his cold/flu medication. "It says it'll bring down your fever."

The orange liquid sloshed in the cup slightly and looked almost poisonous, but Kaiba drank it and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "You would think that with the technology they have now, they would be able to make a medication that didn't taste so bad." He gave Mokuba the plastic cup back and took the eardrops, groaning to himself. Taking a deep breath, Kaiba squeezed the eyedropper and put the medication in his right ear, swallowing hard to fight back the pain. After thirty seconds of waiting it out, he repeated the process on the left one and put the medication back on the nightstand. "Mokuba, I really need to check up on something. Please bring my laptop to me."

Black hair flew back and forth over Mokuba's face as the boy shook his head stubbornly. "No Seto. You can't even really sit up and you were sleeping for so long. All you need to do is stay put and not worry about anything. If there was anything that needed your special attention, they would have called you by now."

Kaiba arched his eyebrow. "Did I say it was for work? I have to check my email then make absolutely sure that there was nothing that was due in school that I haven't turned in. My teachers' lesson plans are so easy to access. They all use the same password every year."

Frowning, Mokuba remained firm. "No Seto. I know that you don't waste time on chatty, friendly emails and you've already done all your homework, all your teachers promised me that. The only thing you can't catch up in is gym, and you hate gym anyway. You don't need your laptop for anything. Do you want me to read to you?" He reached for the thick book on Kaiba's nightstand and opened it to the place it was marked. "Alright, you always leave off at the top of the page, right Seto?" He was remembering the organized way that his brother would read to him when he was old enough to understand chapter books and it was too late or Seto's voice was too far gone to finish the chapter he was reading.

The book Seto was currently reading was long and filled with boring facts about the French Revolution. Mokuba soon became tired of asking his bother how to pronounce words and had long since given up on asking him what the words actually meant.

The book was removed from the small hands and Kaiba shook his head. "It's alright Mokuba. I'm not really listening anyway and I prefer to read to myself. If you would like to do something for me you may call down to the kitchens and tell them to make me a cup of tea." He gave Mokuba the phone while he started to talk about his thoughts on the Revolution, turning the book over in his hand as he did so. "Louis was a fool. He had far too many advisors with their own agendas to be trusted. He should have run the country for himself."

"Why do you say that, Big Brother?" Mokuba asked, frowning while hanging up the house phone after talking to the cook about the tea.

"Because everyone was looking out for themselves, Mokuba; they all wanted to see something happen in France that would best suit them and Louis didn't know or care that anything out of the ordinary was happening. He was too absorbed in his own comfort to pay any attention to his surroundings."

Mokuba didn't understand it when he brother talked that way, but found it best to just let him finish his thought before changing the subject. "Alright, the tea's being sent up. You didn't want anything in it, right Seto?"

Kaiba nodded. "What kind did you ask for?"

Mokuba looked thoughtful. "He told me that lemon and honey would be the best for you. It would help you breath better and make your throat not hurt, if it did hurt to begin with, so I just told him to make you some of that."

Managing to push himself into an upright position, Seto nodded again. "That sounds fine. After I'm finished I think I'll go back to sleep. I cannot believe I'm still tired after sleeping so long."

Mokuba smiled. "Dr. Tsuzuki said that you would be and for me to let you sleep whenever you needed to." He walked to the door and took the scaling cup of tea from the maid. "Drink this then you can sleep as much as you want to."

The tea was very good and quiet hot. Seto sipped it gratefully and closed his eyes, relishing the flavor. "Thank you." He set the empty cup down and settled down on his pillows once again, closing his eyes and allowing his body to relax. "Good night, Mokuba."

Mokuba opened his mouth to point out that it was only early evening, but kept quiet about it instead. "Good night, Seto." He crept out of the room to get his math homework, the only assignment that he'd been having trouble with. Somehow, just being in the same room with his brother forced him to concentrate and think things through more thoroughly than he normally did.

Seto woke up a few hours later by his brother talking furiously to himself. "I don't know what they want me to do here! This is impossible."

The slight chill in the room bit Seto's arms as he forced himself to sit up. "What are you talking about?"

Mokuba sounded exasperated. "I hate math! It doesn't make any sense to me." He looked ready to toss his book out of the window.

Seto patted the side of his bed. "Show me what you're having trouble with and I'll help you learn how to do it."

Mokuba looked at his brother suspiciously. "I'm not sure if I should let you. It is work, you know, Seto."

Kaiba looked at Mokuba oddly. "Mokuba, what you're learning right now is very easy for me. Besides, I enjoy math so it won't be like actual work. Let me see where you're stuck." He held out his hand for the book. "When you're done with this page I want you to go to bed. I can't have you making yourself sick from lack of sleep."

The school work was brought to the side of the bed where Kaiba quickly explained the problems to the boy in a way that was easy for him to understand. Seto looked at his brother. "If you feel as though you can do it by yourself now I'd like for you to go to sleep. You look very tired." The young man stifled a yawn which turned itself into a sneezing fit. He snagged some tissues, careful not to overturn anything again and blew his nose. "I'm going to do the same. Good night, Mokuba."

Mokuba held his book to his chest and smiled at his brother. "Good night Seto. I hope you sleep well and feel better."

Kaiba nodded. "I do too, thank you. Sleep well, Mokuba."


End file.
